March 2013 - Kimberley Bird Watching

Kimberley Birdwatching’s second year for this trip, its a great idea, you get a spectacular scenic flight to whet your appetite, you visit the plateau, see Black Grasswrens, then drive back to Broome via loads of gorges and beautiful country, birding all the way plus you get to meet the locals and enjoy home style cooking and catch up on the local gos – what more could you want! The October 2002 participants were Angela & Nick Blackwood from the UK but living in Melbourne and John & Pam Smallwood also from the UK. Literally as the party landed on the strip at the plateau a Square-tailed Kite flew over my vehicle and followed the line of tress behind the landing strip only to disappear out of sight as the group struggled out of the light plane “You should have been here two minutes earlier” was my rather hollow welcome, of course we didn’t see Square-tailed Kite again on the whole trip. In fact in my experience you’re lucky to see one at all, this late in the year. I welcomed everybody to the Mitchell Plateau, we bade farewell to the pilot, loaded up everyone’s bags and headed off to the Mitchell Falls—we had an urgent appointment with a Black Grasswren! On our arrival we were greeted by a small party of Yellow-faced Partridge Pigeons, well that’s a good start but it was warming up. We headed off to Little Mertens Falls, the pool below the falls looked very inviting and from here we did not move until it started to cool down. On our way to the swimming pool we found some nice birds, 20 Red-tailed Black Cockatoos making an awful racket while perched in some Woolybutts close to the creek A Northern Rosella and a few Sulphur crested Cockatoos. The rainforest patch below the falls was watched carefully with good results. An Emerald Dove, Brown Goshawk, Azure Kingfisher, Green-backed Gerygone, Yellow Oriole, White-lined, White-throated, Bar-breasted and White-gaped Honeyeaters all seen well. A family of Variegated Wrens worked the …

Your Guide - George Swann

George was born in England and emigrated to Australia in 1984. He has lived in Broome since 1989 and established Kimberley Birdwatching in 1993.

Through many years of fieldwork, George has gained tremendous knowledge of the natural history of the Kimberley, including bird distribution and behaviour, with the emphasis on rare, endangered and poorly known species.

George is a professional bird guide, with a passionate interest in the natural history and ecology of the region. He is a resourceful bushman and an infectiously enthusiastic travelling companion.